Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump met briefly last week with three Indian business partners involved with a Trump-branded real estate project near Mumbai, the Trump Organization confirmed to ABC News.

The meeting at Trump Tower was a “congratulatory exchange in passing,” said a Trump Organization official who declined to be named, citing sensitivities about the encounter that was first reported in The New York Times.

ABC News has reached out to the business partners, but has not yet been able to reach them.

Sagar Chordia, Atul Chordia, and Kalpesh Mehta have been quoted in other publications saying that, “They have discussed expanding their partnership with the Trump Organization now that Mr. Trump is president-elect,” according to the Times.

The reported comments raise fresh questions about how and whether Trump will detach himself from business operations to avoid conflicts of interest when he enters the White House.